Monday, 2 August 2010

Getting Closer – an Excerpt from “Eternally & Evermore”

I’m currently working through the Eternally & Evermore edits which I received this weekend in preparation for the release later this month. I’m pretty sure I can be done with them today or tomorrow and the file can go off to Phaze for them to do what they do to turn my text into a proper e-book.

People have asked me before now about the book’s title. “It’s a bit soppy,” they say. “Where did you get it?”

The answer is… long winded. But the best way to show you is with a couple of excerpts from the book. One today and one tomorrow.

I’m away on holiday in France – and almost certainly out of e-mail contact unless I pay a fortune in roaming charges on my phone – so I’m going to schedule some more excerpts from the book to post on this blog while I’m away. So, aside from this Wednesday’s post from Nancy Lenna, this blog is will be going Eternally & Evermore” crazy for a couple of weeks.

A new song began, a ballad, and on the dance floor couples came together and singles left in search of a partner, refreshment or both. The song was Eternally and Evermore by some American country singer that Will had never heard of until the song hit the top of the charts.

“I love this song,” said Lizzie.

“Me too,” said Amy.

Will shrugged. “It’s alright, I suppose.”

Amy cocked her eyebrow at him. “Dance with me?”

He pointed to his chest. “Me?”

“Well, I wasn’t asking Lizzie.”

“I... Well... Okay.”

As she took his hand and led him to the dance floor, Will’s heart thumped as loud as the song’s bass line, threatening to break free from his chest. They’d danced together before, of course they had. He’d danced with lots of girls at his birthday party earlier in the autumn. But this was Amy’s favourite song. That had to mean something, didn’t it? No. He was reading too much into it. She just wanted to dance and he was the nearest available guy. If she’d been next to some other guy when the song started, she would have asked him. Wouldn’t she?

Still, he had trouble controlling his breathing. And that wasn’t to mention the rise in his trousers that he knew would be inevitable when her body pressed up against his. So he took up formal stance instead, his right hand on her hip, his left holding her hand and a ocean of space between them.

"You're not dancing with your mother, William," Amy said with a smile brighter than all the lights of the disco combined. She let go of his hand, grabbed his waist and pulled him close. "That's better."

His hands settled on her flared hips and her arms went around his neck. She rested her head on his shoulder and they lost themselves to the gentle beat, the sweet melody and the powerful voice of the southern songstress. The other couples dancing around them faded to nothing more than ghosts. The disco lights dimmed and Will’s whole world consisted of only the song in his ears and the feel of Amy pressed up against him. Only the material of their clothes separated their bodies. If this song, this dance, could go on forever, Will could not conceive a better way to spend the rest of time. It felt so right holding Amy in his arms. He felt whole. Complete.

Her breath burned his neck and sent shivers down his spine. Her heart beat powerfully against his chest in time with his—as if they were somehow joined. As if they were one.

She sighed and sang along.

“It’s always been you,And always will be, because,You’re the only man I want,And the only man I need.You’ll be in my heart,Eternally and evermore.”

She was singing to him. She was telling him what he wanted to hear. That he was hers and she was his and it would be like that forever. Eternally and evermore. But she wasn’t. Not really. He knew that. Just like he knew that she wasn’t really grinding herself against his erection. Even though it sure felt like she was.

She sighed again as the song finally ended. They parted and the world around them came back into focus and the people became whole again. She held his hand and looked at him with those huge expressive eyes, shining brightly and reflecting the disco lights, yet more violet now than he’d ever seen them and said, “Thanks. I enjoyed that.”

“Yeah, me too.”

They stood awkwardly in front of each other as she swung his arm gently between them. Something had changed. That song, that dance had changed things. Will knew it had. He could feel it. He could sense it in his soul. He knew that if he stepped forward and kissed her, she’d let him. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. He always said that she was his friend and he didn’t want to jeopardise that.

So instead he asked. “Want a drink?”

She looked downcast for the briefest of moments. But she brightened again so quickly that it could easily have been missed. The usual fire in her eyes—now back to their more normal shade of deep blue—burned brightly. “Yeah,” she said. “Let’s go get a drink. Then let’s see if the pool table is still free. This time, I swear I’m going to beat you.”